FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The conversation took place about a dozen years ago, back when Jamey Carroll was stuck in the upper reaches of the Montreal Expos' farm system.

Mike Mordecai, the proven utility player blocking Carroll's path to the major leagues, did most of the talking.

"I told him, 'Jamey, there needs to be a little more thump in your bat,' " said Mordecai, now a minor league infield instructor for the Toronto Blue Jays. "I think Jamey was a better player, but I was a little older and posed a bigger threat offensively coming off the bench than Jamey did."

Mordecai, who had a seven-year head start on Carroll in terms of their professional careers, stressed the need for Carroll to punish pitchers' mistakes. Maybe his diminutive stature would keep him from hitting balls over the fence, but if Carroll could just drill some doubles into the gaps, he would get his chance.

"Jamey," Mordecai told the former 14th-round pick out of the University of Evansville, "guys in our position need the ability to hit for extra bases. Guys like you and me have to have that. Do that and you'll show them you belong."

Sure enough, after Carroll produced 27 extra-base hits in the first half of 2002, the Expos had seen enough. They traded Mordecai to the Marlins in July, opening the door for Carroll.

He never looked back.

As the Twins open their exhibition season Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles, Carroll is heading into his 12th big-league season.

Advertisement

Not bad for a slight middle infielder who "slugged" between .295 and .315 his first three years in the minors.

Now on his sixth team, Carroll is on the back end of a two-year, $6.5 million contract with the Twins. He turned 39 on Monday, Feb. 18, but keeps himself in great shape and just might be getting better with age.

"I'd like to think so," he said. "I didn't play much my first few years in the big leagues, so I feel like I have some mileage left on the tires. It's fun for me knowing hopefully I can have a jersey on at age 40. I actually take a lot of pride in that."

Carroll made a combined 130 starts last season in the Twins infield, including 64 at second base, and USA Baseball recently added him to the reserve list for Joe Torre's World Baseball Classic roster next month.

"I don't really worry about Jamey Carroll," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He knows how to play. He can play anywhere. He's a very good utility guy, but if the other guys don't get it done, we can use Jamey, too."

Should Carroll reach 401 plate appearances this season, a $2 million club option for 2014 converts to a player option. That seems more than possible considering Carroll has reached that threshold in four of his past five seasons.

So how has he gone from being stuck in the minors past his 28th birthday to the solid, under-the-radar career he has enjoyed?

"I feel like I'm a guy who can still play this game at the level I have over the last 10 years," he said. "I'm going to go out and work hard and respect the game and appreciate it and hopefully help us win. I'm not afraid to do the small things. I feel I've learned through my family that it pays to be selfless, and I try to take that attitude into the season."

With twins who turn 5 on Wednesday, Carroll isn't sure how much longer he will play. He still loves the game, still thrives on the competition, but he knows there will come a time when he is needed at home on Florida's Space Coast more than he's needed at the ballpark.

He looks around the Twins' spring clubhouse. There are players in the room who are half his age, which is why Gardenhire is only half-joking when he uses the term "father figure" for the only current Twin born before disco.

Josh Willingham, 5 years younger, is the only other Twin born in the '70s.

"I hope I can play as long as somebody keeps giving me a uniform," Carroll said. "When the time comes, my family will definitely have a role in whatever decision we make. I know this doesn't last forever."

For Carroll, it already has lasted far longer than anyone could have imagined back in his thump-less Expos days.